A councillor has called on people littering to “seriously think about the consequences of their actions”.
Pauline Drysdale has been taking part in clean-ups organised by Crossmichael residents Jim McLelland and Chris Driscoll in and around the village and nearby Clarebrand and Bridge of Urr.
And she has been left shocked at the amount of rubbish that has been discarded – ranging from cans, crisp bags and plastic bottles to sandwich wrappers and bottles of urine.
Councillor Drysdale said: “Whilst volunteers are kindly helping out it’s not acceptable that both ourselves and council employees are putting our lives at risk to combat other people’s laziness.
“In Clarebrand in one stretch alone 24 Red Bull cans were found and I’d urge these people to seriously think about the consequences of their actions.
“Please continue to communicate to those around you and tell them to give their litter a lift home.”
She pointed out more than two million pieces of litter are dropped across the UK each day, costing the taxpayer more than £1 billion a year while endangering councilor employees, volunteers and the environment.
Jim and Chris have set up litter picking teams with help from the council, with 46 bags collected in one day alone.
Anyone wishing to start litter picking is advised to contact the council’s community assets team on 030 33 33 3000 to discuss safety implications.
